Restraint
by Helvetica1Revolution
Summary: Jinx considers her future and whether it should include the red-haired boy-wonder, while he tries to give her a little nudge in the right direction. Rated K for some mild language.
1. Chapter 1

Handcuffs chaffed against Jinx's wrists; she knew, tugging at them experimentally, that it would leave angry red circles where the cuffs rubbed her skin. She had always had a nasty reaction to certain types of metals and being in the business of thievery and law-breaking, it was not the first time she'd been restrained this way. It irritated her that she'd been caught, but even more annoying was the rash she was going to have for weeks afterward. At least the sleeves of her dress were long enough to cover it.

Jinx twisted in her chair to look behind her at the blinking security camera posted in the corner. She knew the Titans were gathered somewhere watching her on a screen, trying to figure out what to do with her. She had been on a diamond heist alone and they'd caught her by surprise; at this point the H.I.V.E. team probably still had no idea she was missing from her bed. It'd been an impromptu theft, something to settle the whirlwind of thoughts in her head keeping her awake. Stupid really- they'd all been trained not to go on any missions without alerting at least one other team mate, to avoid situations like this. It could be hours before her team woke up and noticed her absence. By then the Titans would have dealt with her, and she'd be beyond rescue.

In a half-hearted attempt Jinx channeled her powers at the camera, testing to see if it would work. She felt the warmth of the magic flooding through her veins and burning behind her eyes, transforming them into wide pink orbs, and then- nothing. The camera continued to blink, unharmed.

So it was as she'd suspected- the room must have a nullifying effect, a place to keep criminals that might otherwise be able to free themselves. Jinx wondered if it worked on even the powers that couldn't be turned off, like Mammoth's- would it leave him weak as a normal human? Would See-More be rendered blind? It hardly mattered now. She was stuck here until the Titans decided whether to send her to prison or use her as bait to catch the rest of the H.I.V.E. team. She sincerely hoped they chose the latter; she'd never been in jail before but she'd heard enough stories to know it wasn't a place one wanted to go.

The door swung open suddenly and there he was: the yellow-suited boy wonder that had recently been a chronic pain in her ass. He took a few steps forward and closed the door behind him, taking extra care to avoid slamming it. Jinx took notice of this curiously but made no comment. She tipped her chin up and crossed one leg over the other, hiding her growing nervousness with arrogance, and waited for him to speak.

Kid Flash glanced up at the camera, then back at her. His smile was lacking in its usual confidence. "Hey Jinxy. Looks like you got yourself into some big trouble this time, huh?"

"This? This is nothing." She bluffed. "I could've gotten that necklace with my eyes closed if I hadn't been fighting five to one. The odds were stacked against me."

"I thought you controlled the odds. Is it just one of those days?" He was teasing harmlessly but Jinx's temper flared. She was tired and scared and powerless, and her wrists were already starting to itch. Now was not the time for clever banter.

"Did you just come in here to screw with me or did the Titans send you in here for information? Because whatever you're planning to do to me, I'd rather you just do it. I don't like being played with."

"I'm not playing with you, Jinx." He shifted his weight from foot to foot, and Jinx wondered with growing unease why he was acting so differently. Was the nullifying room sapping him of his usual frenetic energy as well as his speed? "I just want to talk."

Jinx narrowed her eyes at him. "Talk."

"Yeah." Kid Flash ran a hand through his hair and looked up to meet her eyes. Behind his mask Jinx could see a furrow in his brow. "You've acting kind of different lately. Going out at random times of night alone, stealing things only to leave them in public places, engaging other street criminals in fights for no reason. Both Titans East and West have noticed that your team is falling apart. You all can't stop arguing, and you don't lead them the way you use to. I'm worried about you."

Jinx's mouth popped open. Her face burned with a mix of embarrassment and anger. "You've been _following me at night?_"

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't do anything dangerous." He protested. "I think that you're conflicted about what side you should be on right now, and you aren't making good decisions-"

"Don't tell me how I'm feeling! You don't even know me!"

"I know that you're smarter than this. I know that you feel like stealing is your only option, even though it isn't. I know you had a tough life as a kid-"

"_Shut up!" _Jinx hissed suddenly. She strained against the handcuffs holding her arms back, unable to keep herself from trying to lunge at him even though she knew it was futile. "Just shut up, you_ idiot_! You think you know what you're talking about? You think just because you've been stalking me you've got me all figured out?" She whipped around to address the camera, twisting so hard that her wrists pulled against the handcuffs and broke the skin. "Hey! Take me to prison already! I'm done here! Let me out!"

"They can't hear you." Kid Flash said quietly. "I disconnected the wire to the camera before I came in here."

"Why?" Jinx snarled. "You planning on fucking me once you finish playing therapist? You want one last chance with me before they lock me up?"

"Jinx." He said it softly, almost pleadingly. She turned her head away from him contemptuously.

"Just get out. This conversation is over."

There was a long beat of silence before Kid Flash sighed. He walked forward until he was at the table in front of Jinx and reached down into his shoe. Jinx continued to stare at the far wall resolutely, determined to show no interest. When he came around the table to stand behind her she stiffened, suddenly afraid. She had just made the comment about the nature of his intentions to offend him; was he actually going to touch her?

She felt a slight pressure on the handcuffs and then with a click they loosened, falling away from her wrists and onto the ground. Kid Flash came back around and turned away from her, towards the door. Jinx stared at him wonderingly.

"The Titans aren't out in the Common Room." He said, sounding deeply tired. "They decided to wait until morning to take you to jail, so they're all in bed. If you're quiet you can slip out the door unnoticed. I deactivated the alarm."

Jinx opened her mouth, about to ask him why he was doing this, but stopped. She looked down at the table and rubbed her wrists. There was a strange feeling of guilt washing over her.

"I haven't given up on you, Jinx. I know there's good in you."

She looked up then but he had already stepped out of the room and was gone, a red and yellow blur that she caught only a moment of. Jinx let her head fall into her hands, slumping back in her chair.

Then she was out the door too, forcing herself to get a grip as she vaulted agilely through the hallways and away from everything that had happened in the nullifying room.


	2. Chapter 2

_EEP-BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!_

Jinx opened her eyes slowly and stared at the ceiling, waiting for the alarm to be turned off. A small red light in the corner of the room about the size of a smoke detector blinked on and off and cast nightmarish red shadows about the room. The alarm usually filled Jinx with adrenaline and excitement...but now it was just obnoxious. She rolled onto her side in bed and pulled the blankets over her face. After another few minutes of blaring she covered her ears with her pillow.

_BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-_

"Ugh!" She snarled. She swung her legs to the side and pushed out of bed, striding angrily to the door. The glimpse Jinx saw of herself as she passed the mirror, a bedraggled girl in her pajamas with a look of annoyance on her face, did not have the effect it would have had some weeks ago. She continued out the door and down the hallway to the Common Room, fists clenched.

The H.I.V.E. Five stood clustered around the TV screen, talking animatedly. On the screen there were several flashing diamond icons on a map of Gotham: each one indicated a jewelry store whose security system Gizmo could easily disable. The H.I.V.E.'s program screened for weak defenses in expensive stores and gave them an update every few days- today however, there seemed to have been some kind of power outage in downtown Gotham. This meant no security system _and _minimal hero interference, as that area of town wasn't specifically claimed by either Titan group. The perfect jewel heist.

Jinx wasn't interested.

"Turn off that stupid alarm!" She snapped, having to speak extra loudly over the continuous sound. The members of her team spun to face her. Their faces twisted with shock and unease at her tank top and sweat pants. Where was her costume?

Seeing her expression See-more reached over and quickly tapped a few of the keys on the display. The alarm stopped mid-beep.

"God, I can't even trust you idiots to press a few buttons. Why didn't you turn it off like you're supposed to?"

"We were waitin' for you." Billy Numerous twanged, sounding affronted. He doubled and nodded as his clone added, "You were takin' forever."

Jinx raised one hand to her face, sighing with frustration. "I told you all, I'm not going on any missions. Just go by yourselves. You can handle it."

She actually doubted their ability greatly; both times that they had gone without her they'd had their assses handed to them by the Titans. Jinx just didn't care enough to join them. She wasn't their mother. It wasn't her job to take care of them like some kind of group manager.

"But we need a strategy!" Gizmo whined. "Which one should we knock over first?"

"I don't care. Just pick one."

"But the last time we didn't-"

Jinx cut him off with a shriek of anger. "I don't give a damn what you do! Just go before I hex you myself!"

This seemed sufficient motivation; the five boys hustled out of the room before she made good on her threat. Jinx watched them leave but caught See-more by the shoulder as he skittered past her, lowering her voice a few octaves.

"Look, start with the jewelry place on the corner of Fender and Third Street." She conceded irately. "It's got enough alleyways that you should have an easy out if you get caught and the goods aren't too high-brow, so you won't have the whole city in an uproar. And use standard procedure when deciding what to take: two goods per person, one person empty-handed for combat. Just like we usually do."

See-more looked at her concernedly, but limited his reply to "Gotcha." He knew her well enough to know that any other comment on her behavior would be unwelcome.

Jinx waited until they left before lowering herself into one of the chairs in front of the screen and leaning back. She closed her eyes, trying to enjoy the rare silence that overtook the room.

"Smart advice."

Jinx snapped her head up. Kid Flash was reclining back in the couch across the room, munching on an apple he'd probably stolen from their fridge. He was sitting in Mammoth's seat, and for a moment all Jinx could think was that he wasn't even a fourth of the monster's size. She imagined four Kid Flashes standing on each other's shoulders chasing after Mammoth and had to dig her nails into her palms to keep from giggling ridiculously.

"If it was good advice it's useless now. You've probably already alerted one of the Titan towers."

"Yeah," He said unrepentantly. "But they would've gotten caught anyways."

Jinx didn't dispute this. She reached up and ran a hand through her pink hair absently. It felt weird not having it up in the faux demon horns the way she usually kept it- as it was it swung around her shoulders in a tangled mess.

Kid Flash smiled at her dazzingly. "So are those your PJ's or did you undergo a serious costume change? Either way I like it."

Color rose to Jinx's face. "I was sleeping!" she snapped. "Why are you even here? Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Don't _you_? Shouldn't you be out with your team of criminals?"

Jinx glared at him. "It's none of your business."

Kid Flash finished his apple and briefly disappeared from the couch. When he reappeared he was sitting cross-legged in the chair across from Jinx, minus one apple. "Well I've got a theory, Jinx, about why you haven't gone out in a while. I think you- hey, don't get mad!"

Jinx's eyes were glowing; she knew where this was going and she didn't want to hear it. With a sweep of her hand she hexed his chair and severed the base, forcing him to stumble out as it fell into two pieces. She lunged forward and hexed where he stood, knowing that he would zip away before it made contact.

"Go away!" She said angrily. "I don't want to talk to you!"

He came to a stop behind her. "How come every time I question your feelings towards your team you flip out? Could it possibly be because you're feeling-" He ducked to avoid a hex that had been thrown at his face. "Some uncertainty about your future?"

"Maybe it's because you annoy me!" Jinx hissed. Kid Flash shrugged.

"That could be it, I guess. But I don't think so. I think you want to join the right side and it's bothering you."

Jinx narrowed her eyes at him. She wouldn't let herself think about what he was saying, only the tone in which he said them, that condescending _I-just-want-to-help_ concern.

"If you're really such a criminal, Jinx, then why aren't you going on any heists? How come you've been holed up in your room for the past week, ever since we had that talk in the holding room?"

Jinx didn't answer. She had hoped he wouldn't bring up what had happened a week ago.

"Look, just consider your options, okay? That's all I'm asking. If you eventually decide that you aren't satisfied with the life you have now, stealing and cleaning up after idiots, you have options."

Flash was suddenly standing a few inches away from Jinx, close enough to touch. He ignored the startled look on her face and leaned forward, brushing a soft kiss against her neck.

"Me." He said quietly into her ear. "I'm an option.

Jinx jerked away, more out of instinct than anything else, and Kid Flash took a step back with his hands up.

"Just think about it." He said, smiling again. "You know how to find me."

When he zipped away this time he left not a rose, but a daisy. Jinx looked down at it confusedly.

This time, rather than crushing it under her foot as she usually did, she took it back with her to her room.


	3. Chapter 3

Options. Jinx had options.

Not only did she have options, Kid Flash was one of those options.

Jinx grasped the metal bar stationed toward the back of the training room and pulled herself upward, huffing softly with effort. Once she was able to tuck the bar under her chin she rocked a little so that she was able to swing her feet up, and from there she positioned herself so that she was sitting on top of it. She looked down at the padded mat ponderously, bare feet dangling.

Was she interested in him? Did she trust him enough to leave her life, everything she had worked for, to follow him into the unknown?

Raucous techno music was booming through the gym-like structure, an unsuccessful attempt to drive the thoughts of Kid Flash from her head. The beat vibrated in her chest and probably could be heard throughout the entire building (maybe the entire neighborhood) but her team didn't dare complain. They knew Jinx had been acting weird lately- not wearing her costume, snapping at them even more frequently than usual, refusing to take part in missions. None of them knew what the hell was wrong with her but they all hoped she'd snap out of it soon; she was even scarier than usual when she was like this.

Jinx vaulted off the bar and began to swing back and forth, twisting her hands with each pendulum to lessen the strain on her palms. When she had gotten a good momentum built up she let go, arcing gracefully through the air and landing with a thump. From there she began to twist and duck as if she were fighting an invisible opponent, spinning and turning extravagant backflips. She flicked her wrists as she did so, pantomiming the hexing motion. She didn't want to actually destroy the training room, but it was good practice to pretend.

She knew, even if she didn't like to admit it, that she was attracted to him. He was clever and interesting, and upbeat- three things that most of the male villains she met lacked. And it was refreshing, being with someone who saw past the witch dress and glowing pink eyes. Maybe with him she didn't have to be bad luck. Maybe she could just be Jinx.

But that kiss! Jinx threw an extra hard roundhouse kick at her invisible opponent, scowling. He was so arrogant, thinking he could just touch her like that without asking and assuming she wouldn't mind. Knowing that even if she did mind she couldn't do anything. It still made her angry.

That day after she'd gone to her room she'd thrown the vase with the daisy across the room and cried at how conflicted she felt, how her blood was pounding with both anger and pleasure. He'd kissed her! He'd touched her! Jinx hadn't known how she felt about it so she stayed inside for days, afraid Kid Flash would pop up next to her if she left the building.

He'd had no right to take advantage of his power over her- so why did thinking about it make Jinx feel both indignant and excited?

Jinx let out another huff. She paused in her acrobatic simulated combat and slowly crouched down, letting her head droop forward. As an afterthought she looked up and sent a hex at the speakers that were still pumping out techno. The music wasn't doing its job anyway; she couldn't _stop _thinking about Flash.

"Thank god, you turned that thing off. I thought my eardrums would burst."

Jinx started at the sudden voice and lost her balance, falling backward off her haunches and catching herself with one hand. The anger she'd been contemplating flared up full force: here he was again! Sneaking up on her as usual!

"You were watching me train, weren't you?" She demanded.

He had the grace to look slightly abashed. "Well I didn't plan to. I came in here to talk to you and you were doing acrobatics…it was a little distracting."

The implied compliment went right over Jinx's head. "If you really have any intention of gaining my trust," she snarled. "You'll stop _following me and watching me _and talk to me like a normal person. Try _knocking_ once and a while maybe."

Kid Flash stuck up one hand seriously. "I, Kid Flash, do solemnly swear never to stalk and/or observe Jinx of H.I.V.E. Five without her knowledge _ever _again. There, better?"

Jinx snorted contemptuously but didn't respond. She bent to start stretching, hugging her knees and touching her toes. She found it difficult to maintain an attitude of indifference when he looked at her with that half-smile.

"So did you come here to actually talk to me about something?" She finally asked. "Or am I in for another one of your lectures on how I don't belong here?"

She was startled to see Kid Flash actually looking uncomfortable. He swung his legs a little from where he was sitting on an overturned punching bag, glancing down. They were some distance away from each other but she could see color rising to his face.

"Yeah." He said, looking up to make eye contact. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened a few days ago. When I…kissed you."

Jinx flushed, rising from her stretch. She wondered how to respond- with aloofness or anger? Should she pretend like it was nothing or read him the riot act?

"Well," She said awkwardly. "Talk then."

"I want you to know that…well I didn't plan to do it. Kiss you, I mean."

Jinx half-turned away from him, continuing to stretch so he wouldn't see the conflicting emotions distorting her features. "Then why did you?"

He was silent for a long time; Jinx wondered if maybe he had left. She peeked over her shoulder despite herself and saw that he had stepped off the punching bag and was walking towards her. She blinked, confused, and realized the reason. He was walking- not flashing forward. Not running. Walking.

Kid Flash came to stand close enough to touch her and stopped. His eyes were serious and searching.

"Jinx, will you listen to what I have to say?" He asked quietly. "If I'm wrong I'll leave, and you'll never have to see me again, but won't you just listen without throwing a hex at me? For five seconds?"

Jinx looked up at him and then faltered, returning her gaze to the mat. She realized that he made her more uncomfortable when he was serious then when he was flirtatious.

"You can do so much better than this, Jinx. You're smart and pretty and funny, and- you don't need to live off other people to survive. Why would you steal from a jewelry store when you could easily get a job there if you wanted? Why would you pretend to enjoy this?"

He ran a hand through his hair, creasing his brow slightly. He looked as though he were considering every word before he spoke it.

"And here's the thing- I like you. A lot. I'll like you if you decide to become a superhero and I'll like you if you decide to become a civilian. But I can't be with someone who continues to make decisions that hurt people. I can't be with one of the bad guys. "

Jinx stared at him speechlessly. Kid Flash smiled, perhaps uncertainly. He leaned forward until Jinx could almost feel the warmth of his skin against hers.

"Jinx." He said softly. "I'm going to kiss you now. Okay?"

And Jinx, before she even had time to think, closed her eyes.

This time he brushed his lips against hers, bringing his hands up to her shoulders. Jinx felt as if all the blood in her body was rushing to her face. She tilted her head upwards to accommodate him, losing herself in the strangeness of being so close to another person. She was not being grabbed, or attacked. He was not trying to restrain her. He was holding her. And kissing her.

And then his communicator beeped.

The noise broke the spell; Jinx opened her eyes and stumbled back out of his arms. She blinked at him with wide eyes, as if he had set a trap and she had fallen for it.

Kid Flash didn't see her horror- he looked down at his belt, swearing under his breath. When he met her eyes again they were miles apart.

"I'm sorry," he said, sounding truly regretful. "The red light means it's an emergency. I can't ignore it."

"Then go." Jinx said harshly. "It's not like you're needed here."

He looked at her, stricken. "What do you mean by that?"

Jinx opened her mouth, probably about to say something even more hurtful, but was cut off by the cacophonous beeping. She turned away from him.

She heard him pause, trying to shrug off what she'd said. "Look, I really have to go. Just think about what I said, okay? I'll come back on Wednesday and we can talk."

Jinx remained silent. When she felt a breeze against the back of her neck she knew he was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Two o'clock in the morning and the city lay still below Jinx's listlessly swinging legs as she sat on the side of an apartment building roof. There were no early morning drivers; the only people still lingering on street corners were the prostitutes hoping to solicit a desperate passerby. On one of the fire-escapes a shadowed figure sat in a lawn chair and smoked a cigarette.

Jinx inhaled the second-hand smoke rising up in soft tendrils towards her, thinking of the lady that used to live next door to her family in the projects. Jinx had hung out on the fire-escape a lot to escape her mother's rages, and she would always see a prehistoric-looking old woman sitting at a table smoking as if it were her only pleasure in the world. It used to be kind of comforting: one constant in her turbulent life.

A man stumbled out of a bar across the street, letting a blast of Beastie Boys from inside disturb the calm as he swung the door open. His face was flushed and unshaven, and there was a stain that looked suspiciously like vomit on his shirt. Jinx watched as the prostitutes caught sight of him and straightened, something oddly predatory in their smiles.

Jinx wondered what policy the Titans had towards criminals of that nature. Did they only go after the villains in costumes? Could some of them possibly have darker sides, maybe even propositioned one in their lifetimes? She tried imagining Kid Flash slithering up to the group on the corner, tried to twist the honest smile he usually wore into one of sly pleasure. She wanted to be disgusted by him. She wanted him to be worse than she was.

The drunk man ignored the women as he walked down the street and most of them lost interest, turning back to talk amongst themselves and examine their nails. One, however, trailed after him. She was missing the usual sexy lingerie and instead wore an oversized T-shirt and some shorts; legs that looked too thin to support her meager weight tottered after him in painfully ugly high heels. Jinx couldn't hear what she was saying to the man but she sounded desperate and pathetic- probably begging for money to support her meth addiction. His response was slurred, but unmistakably crude.

"Just ten dollars," she was saying. "You can have me any way you want. Ten dollars. Barely anything."

"Fuck off, slag." The man replied articulately. "You make me fucking sick."

The girl kept after him, practically pleading. Jinx felt sick. How different were they, really? The girl lived dishonestly using her body and Jinx used her powers. They both were pathetic. Is this what Kid Flash saw when he watched Jinx attempt to steal things from others?

The man suddenly turned on the girl and swept his arm out, knocking her into the wall. It was a clumsy blow but it had obviously caught the girl off guard, and she stumbled backwards. The man struck her again with his meaty fists, bellowing obscenities into her face. He blocked any visibility of the girl with his body but her cries echoing through the empty street made it clear that he was hurting her.

Jinx felt something inside her stretching as she was pulled in two directions. This was it: was she a hero or a villain? Was she the type of person to turn away from a woman being beaten in the street or was she going to help?

It wasn't a conscious decision; Jinx was vaulting off the roof and swinging down the fire escape even as she pretended to remain indecisive. She found herself bolting across the street, ignoring the stares of the blank prostitutes and stopping directly behind the panting drunk.

If she were truly following the hero protocol Jinx supposed she should give him a warning and command him to stop, but there was only so much progress a girl could make in one night. It was time for him to know what it felt like to be picked on by someone stronger.

Magic warmed her skin and burned behind her eyes, casting a pink glow on the back of his shirt. Without hesitating she gathered it behind her fingers and sent a dozen small slices of magic at his bear-like figure. His exclamations of anger turned to ones of pain as cuts opened along his back like blooming red flowers.

Jinx danced backward a few steps as he turned unsteadily, her hands still extended. She noted with some satisfaction the disbelief in his eyes as he saw her's glow.

"Go ahead," she challenged. "Try to swing at me. The next hex I'll throw at you is going for your throat."

He twisted to stare at the new blood stains on his shirt, and then back at her with shock and fear. "How did you…you're crazy," he said, backing away clumsily. "You're fucking crazy."

"You bet I am." Jinx snapped. She made a sudden move forward as if she were going to attack him again, and he turned and broke out into a run. She watched, unsmiling, as he stumbled over his own feet and disappeared around a corner.

When it occurred to Jinx that the girl was still pressed against the wall, she turned to face her. Blackish-red blood clotted at her nose and stood in stark contrast with her sickly complexion. She looked up at Jinx with frightened, swollen eyes.

"Are you a witch?" She whispered. Her voice was edged in pain.

Jinx smiled cynically. Not much thanks in this hero business. "Don't ask stupid questions. There's no such thing as witches."

Jinx's rudeness seemed to ease her fears somewhat. She looked down at her feet briefly, reaching a trembling hand up to probe the mess on her face. "Are you going to put me in jail?"

Jinx pressed her lips together, thinking. Was she supposed to? Were these the kind of ethical dilemmas Kid Flash and the other Titans had to face on a regular basis? Maybe she really wasn't cut out for this.

"No." She finally said. "What you do for a living is your business." _From one criminal to another_, she added silently.

Jinx lingered for a moment before turning and heading back to her rooftop; she had some things she needed to think about. As she scaled the building again she glanced across the street to see the girl pick herself up, still sniffling, and walked unsteadily back to the group. They all ignored her; there was a pecking order, even among prostitutes, and desperation apparently rated very low in that order.

_Am I the prostitute? _She wondered. _Am I going to limp back to the tower with my tail between my legs, go back to stealing and pretend I never met Flash?_

But it was two o'clock in the morning, and there was no one to answer her.


	5. Chapter 5

Kid Flash was not a worrier and he didn't obsess about things. When you could run so fast that time slowed down, it was easy to look at things from a healthy distance; he didn't like how things were going and he could be in Guatemala in two seconds. No worries.

Jinx, however, seemed like the type to obsess over things. And it was making him nervous.

Kid Flash wove back and forth across the carpeted bank floor, deftly maneuvering around the bullets being fired at him as he worked his way closer and closer to the two criminals shooting. They were wearing the typical bank-robber ski masks to hide their faces and he could see sweat soaking through the black fabric as they continued to fire frantically and bellow to each other, looking around wildly. Amateurs. If Flash hadn't been thinking of other things he would've had them disarmed and tied up minutes ago.

That day when they had kissed he had given her a pretty big ultimatum. And worse, he'd given her two days to consider it- more than enough time for her to get scared and bail on him. Hadn't she been pretty pissed off when he'd left, too? What if she chose crime over him?

He suddenly felt a painful sting in his right shoulder and stopped for a tenth of a second, looking down. A small line of blood was trailing down his upper arm- a bullet must've grazed him.

Damn it! Now he would have to change into a clean costume before he went to talk to Jinx!

Forgoing the usual witty banter, Kid Flash zipped forward and landed behind them. With all of his strength he gripped the backs of their heads and thrust them forward into the counter. Their heads rebounded with an ugly thunk; in almost balletic synchronization the two men wobbled backwards and crumpled to the ground.

Flash sighed, looking from the criminal heap on the floor to the now brownish-red stain on his sleeve. There was probably a nicer way he could've disarmed them… but it was their fault for staining his clothes!

The gunfire had been loud enough to alarm people on the street, and sirens were already screaming their way through the neighborhood to investigate. Kid Flash nudged the robbers with his foot, double-checking that they were unconscious. He debated whether to go straight to Jinx's house as his vanity warred with his anxiety.

"Screw it." He said aloud. Without allowing himself to consider it any further he shifted into hyper speed, maneuvering himself in the direction of the Hive Five tower.

Kid Flash found himself standing in front of Jinx's room, the hallway around him empty and dimly lit. It was always weird entering the Hive headquarters- the structure was nearly identical to the Titan Tower, but the vibe was completely different. There were always dishes and garbage piled in the kitchen, and a faint smell of food that had been left out too long; the whole place looked like it hadn't been cleaned since they first moved in.

Flash didn't bother checking for any of her teammates as he carefully knocked on the door, feeling self-conscious.

"_Fuck off_!"

Kid Flash almost took a step back, startled. He wondered if he had been right to be nervous. "Jinx?"

There was a pregnant pause before the door slid open and Jinx lunged out of the doorway to grab him, pulling him unceremoniously into her room. Kid Flash winced as her hand grasped the injury on his shoulder.

"Are you crazy?" She snapped without prelude. "The boys have been bugging me all day, one of them could've seen you!"

"You told me to knock." He said defensively. Jinx opened her mouth, about to fire back another retort, but stopped. Her pink eyes lowered to his shoulder.

"What is that? Are you… bleeding?"

_Aw man._ Kid Flash twisted his neck to look down and was embarrassed to see that the graze had reopened and was weeping blood. He raised his hand to put pressure on it and started deliberately looking around her room, hoping she wouldn't give him a hard time.

"Yeah, scratched myself on the way over here. I should've taken care of it before I came."

Jinx's gaze lingered on the offending area. She seemed to go back and forth on something before sighing and turning away from him to kneel on the floor. Kid Flash watched, bewildered, as she dragged a substantial box out from under the bed and pulled open the cardboard flaps. When she turned again she was holding a cotton pad and a bottle of peroxide.

"Move your hand." She said gruffly. When he obeyed she paused, examining the small wound. Kid Flash looked down at her like she had grown a second head.

"Why do you have medical supplies under your bed?"

Jinx put a pad over the mouth of the bottle and turned it over, letting it soak through with the peroxide. "This is going to sting a little." She warned, ignoring his question. With practiced hands she passed the pad over the open cut twice, carefully. Kid Flash winced and then immediately wished he hadn't; he didn't want her thinking he was a wimp.

She retrieved an adhesive bandage from the box after throwing away the cotton and spread some antibiotic cream over her index finger, and he watched as she administered it professionally. At one point her brilliant pink eyes flicked up to his; when she saw the look on his face she flushed and focused her gaze back down. The bandage was sealed over the graze before he was even aware of it.

"You're good." He said admiringly. "Thanks."

Jinx shrugged as she turned to pack the box back under the bed. Kid Flash wanted to ask why she needed a whole thing of medical supplies in her room, but it seemed like it might be a touchy subject. It occurred to him that as a criminal who hung around with the idiots that she did, she probably got injured a lot. He frowned.

"So." Jinx finally said. She was facing forward again with her arms crossed, looking away from him. The color that had risen to her pale face was still there. "Did you come just so I could treat your scratch?"

Kid Flash was mortified. "Actually no. I came because…well, we left things in an awkward place, didn't we?"

"You kissed me again."

"Yeah."

"And then you left."

This was not going the way he had planned at all. "Well. Yeah."

"And now you've shown up again, uninvited as usual, so we can talk about 'where we left things'?"

He honestly could think of no intelligent response. "Um….yeah."

She suddenly looked up at him, and Kid Flash was startled to see a hint of a humor in her eyes. "You're kind of crazy, you know that?"

He smiled, relieved that she didn't seem too angry. "If I'm crazy it's your fault, Jinx. Before I met you I was just run of the mill annoying."

Jinx laughed, and Kid Flash's smile widened. God, she was beautiful when she laughed. He suddenly needed to kiss her again very badly.

"You said you would like me whether I became a hero or a civilian," She said, her voice taking on some seriousness. "Did you really mean it?"

"Of course I meant it."

"I'm not squeaky clean like you are." She warned. "I can't just become virtuous overnight. It might be that I'm not cut out for the hero thing. I still have some things to figure out."

A slow, hopeful warmth crept through his chest. Was that an affirmative answer? Was she essentially agreeing to live her life differently for him, or at least attempt to? He forced himself to speak carefully, afraid of scaring her off with his eagerness.

"I don't want you to be squeaky clean, Jinx. I just want you to be you." Flash grinned suddenly. "Even if the real you turns out to be a boring civilian."

Jinx's lips twitched into a smile. "I have a hard time picturing myself as a boring anything."

**Cue inspirational music and credits! :) This is the last chapter in this series, but if you guys don't like how this left things I may do some sequel chapters. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed!**


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